Seeing children sleeping alone outside in the cold should not be a concern in Denmark, Finland, or other Nordic countries. In these places, parents put their children to sleep outside because children sleep better in the fresh air.
When Danish musician Amalie Bruun posted a picture on Instagram exploring her garden with her 4-month-old son Otto, the internet started talking about the topic. Otto was still awake, but Bruen said his son was “sleeping unusually.”
January is the coldest month in Denmark, with an average of 37 degrees. This practice is also common in Finland, where parents put their children to sleep outside when the temperature drops below -16 degrees.
After Bruin’s Instagram post, a number of parents from the Nordic countries wanted to share that their children also sleep outside and why.
London-based sleep consultant Katie Palmer told Insider that babies who sleep outside get longer, better quality sleep and are exposed to fewer germs than those who sleep indoors.
But the experience is not without risk. Hypothermia can occur when babies sleep outside during the winter. In summer, there is a risk of sunburn and heat exhaustion. There are concerns about pollution and exposure to air pollution in urban areas at any time of the year.
Parents in the Nordic countries are generally more self-confident than parents in the US and won’t think twice about letting their kids sleep indoors or out while they eat. For most parents, it is better to leave children outside alone than to expose them to noisy environments that can cause anxiety.
But some sleep experts say babies should never sleep alone, indoors or outdoors.
“My attention is controlled,” Dr. Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician in Atlanta, Georgia, told Insider. “Unless the parents are close, they won’t know, for example, if the child stops breathing,” he said.
